Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the waiting list of people in England who are currently waiting for their first specialist appointment with an ophthalmologist.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments, including ophthalmology appointments, per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.
We will be supporting National Health Service trusts to deliver these through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered.
Transforming outpatient services will also help reduce waiting times for patients. The target in the 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance to increase the proportion of all outpatient attendances that are for first appointments, or follow-up appointments attracting a procedure tariff to 46%, aims to improve access to specialist first appointments, or clinically necessary follow ups, including for ophthalmology patients. A copy of the guidance is attached.
The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by the Royal College of Nursing that the fall in each of the past three years in applications to university nursing courses is a direct threat to patient safety, and what actions they are taking to improve patient safety in England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The number of applicants continues to outstrip the places on offer. Nursing training places are competitive, and lead to an attractive and important career in the National Health Service.
Record numbers of nurses are now working in the NHS, and the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, backed by over £2.4 billion of funding, will add 24,000 more nurse and midwifery training places by 2031.
Over the last decade, the Government and system partners have delivered major initiatives to advance patient safety in the NHS. This includes implementing the first NHS Patient Safety Strategy, establishing the independent Health Services Safety Investigations Body to address the most serious patient safety incidents, and appointing the first Patient Safety Commissioner to champion the patient voice in relation to the safety of medicines and medical devices.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the underlying cause of the fall in each of the past three years in applications to university nursing courses, as reported by the Financial Times on 15 February, and what action they are taking to reverse the trend.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The drop in nursing applicants follows unprecedented demand for healthcare courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of applicants continues to outstrip the places on offer. Nursing training places are competitive, and lead to an attractive and important career in the National Health Service.
We are working closely with NHS England, universities and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to ensure everyone who wants to pursue a rewarding healthcare career in nursing has the support and opportunities to do so.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure there is a sufficient and reliable supply of medicines to help patients suffering from ADHD.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working closely with the respective manufacturers and some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, which should largely resolve by April or May 2024. We have also added ADHD products to the list of medicines that cannot be exported from, or hoarded in, the United Kingdom to protect UK supplies for patients.
There is a team within the Department that deals specifically with medicine supply problems arising both in the community and in hospitals. It has well-established procedures to manage medicine supply issues, whatever the cause, and help to prevent shortages and minimise risks to patients by working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, and others operating in the supply chain.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine supply issues can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues with ADHD medicine supply in the UK as soon as possible and to help ensure patients are able to access these medicines in the short and long term.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove the annual cap on dentistry places at UK universities.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The provision of dentistry training places in the United Kingdom is a devolved issue.
In England, the Government temporarily lifted the cap on dental school places for students who completed A-Levels in 2020 and who had an offer from a university in England to study dentistry subject to their grades. This ensured a place this year or next for every eligible student.
The Government has no plans outside this change to remove the cap. However, it is committed to ensuring that the number of dental school places are in line with England’s requirements for dentists and continues to monitor the effectiveness of current arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the drop in median income for the poorest fifth of people identified in the Office for National Statistics Average household income, UK: financial year ending 2019 release, published on 5 March, on the life expectancy of boys born in (1) the North West, (2) Yorkshire and the Humber, (3) the East Midlands, and (4) the West Midlands, regions in the 2016-18 period.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has made no such assessment.
The Office for National Statistics published statistics on health state life expectancies by national deprivation deciles, England and Wales 2016 to 2018 on 27 March 2020.
We want to level up people’s opportunity to have a long and healthy life, whoever they are, wherever they live and whatever their background or social circumstances.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reduce the significant increase in emergency readmisssions identified by Healthwatch England.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England and NHS Improvement are implementing a number of national programmes to transform National Health Service services so that, where clinically appropriate, a patient’s care is managed without the need for a stay in hospital. This is being achieved through services becoming better integrated across health and social care as well as managing hospital care differently so that more patients are treated as same day emergency care or streamed to see a primary care professional.
Readmission rates are a complex issue and rates may not always be an indicator of poor care. In some cases patients who are seriously ill may require readmission to manage their condition and avoid worsening outcomes. Recent research has shown that improvements in survival rates may also account for an increase in emergency readmissions.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reduce the number of avoidable emergency admissions in England.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England and NHS Improvement are implementing a number of national programmes to transform National Health Service services so that, where clinically appropriate, a patient’s care is managed without the need for a stay in hospital. This is being achieved through services becoming better integrated across health and social care as well as managing hospital care differently so that more patients are treated as same day emergency care or streamed to see a primary care professional.
Readmission rates are a complex issue and rates may not always be an indicator of poor care. In some cases patients who are seriously ill may require readmission to manage their condition and avoid worsening outcomes. Recent research has shown that improvements in survival rates may also account for an increase in emergency readmissions.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the rejection by National Health Service trusts of the financial tariff proposals drawn up by Monitor for 2015–16, whether they intend to refer the matter to the Competition and Markets Authority; and if not what other prescription they have to deal with the issue.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the decision on whether to refer the matter to the Competition and Markets Authority is for Monitor to take.
We understand that Monitor is carefully considering the best course of action, alongside NHS England.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to reduce the risk of HIV and to improve early diagnosis of the infection of people who sleep rough.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
In 2013 the Department published the Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England. The Framework highlights the additional risks faced by homeless people around sexual health and HIV and states that it is vital that their health needs are met.
Public Health England supports local authorities to understand the effectiveness of their local system for homeless people, including access to and quality of healthcare for rough sleepers and other single homeless people. The Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health, the Queen's Nursing Institute, Homeless Link and St. Mungo's Broadway, and Find and Treat are amongst a number of partners involved in this work.